Ukraine has no alternative to Euro-Atlantic integration, Zelenskiy spokesman says

Ukraine has no alternative to Euro-Atlantic
integration, said on Apr. 13 Dmytro Razumkov, a spokesman for the Zelenskiy
presidential campaign, speaking on behalf of the candidate.  “If we speak
about NATO integration, yes, this is truly important, and for better or worse,
Ukraine has no alternative than moving in this direction,” Razumkov said,
addressing the third annual “People are Important” forum of Ukraine’s
neoliberals.

Zelenskiy is also committed to continuing negotiations
within the context of the Minsk Accords, “which aren’t ideal,” Razumkov said.
“But, unfortunately, no one has proposed an alternative. All sanctions against
the Russian Federation are tied to the Minsk process, and changing this process
will be very difficult,” he said. Meanwhile, the occupied territories of Crimea
and Donbas must be returned “exclusively on Ukraine’s conditions,” he said.

Zenon Zawada: In a late March meeting with Western journalists,
Zelenskiy said, “Ukrainians should decide on what they’re joining, this or
another union.” While EU and NATO membership require referenda, that’s only
when all requirements are met and applications are ready. Otherwise, amid the
ongoing Russian military aggression, Zelenskiy made a reckless remark that
could have been misinterpreted as holding such referenda to determine the
nation’s geopolitical course. That’s particularly the case when he prefaced the
comment that he personally supports Euro-Atlantic integration, but “serious
issues” issues must be decided by the public, and that he viewed the
constitutional amendments requiring EU-NATO integration as being a
“pre-elections political decision.”

So the dissonance between the remarks of Zelenskiy and
Razumkov – who has insisted that Zelenskiy will be committed to Ukraine’s
continued EU and NATO integration – either indicate that his team of advisers
are (1) doing damage control for his poorly phrased comments, (2)
counterbalancing Zelenskiy’s radical proposals with stable alternatives, or (3)
exposing a divergence in the positions of Zelenskiy and his advisers.

Another example of this dissonance in positions is the
situation with Russian-occupied Crimea and Donbas. While Razumkov insisted that
Zelenskiy will stick to the Minsk Accords and return these territories only on
Ukraine’s conditions, Zelenskiy said he wants to end the “long process” of
the peace talks to achieve a permanent ceasefire in
Donbas. But this will be impossible to accomplish without concessions to
Russia.

So with this dissonance, which has also surfaced
with other issues, Zelenskiy is certain to be accused of either breaking his
promises, or taking radical steps against the will of a large segment of the
public (if he will fulfill his bolder declarations). It’s certain that he will
be under fierce attack by political rivals within months of taking office, who
will be seeking strong results in the October parliamentary elections.